The prospect of a fully online service for lasting power of attorney (LPA) has come closer following Royal Assent for the Powers of Attorney Act.
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has announced the development, saying it “fires the starting gun” on bringing the existing paper based processes online for the legal documents that enable people to appoint someone else to make decisions on their welfare, finances and property.
The legislation is also expected to strengthen fraud protection by allowing checks on the identity of those applying for LPAs.
The Government backed the proposal for an online LPA service last year. Until now, while the documents can be filled in online, they have to be printed, signed of front of witnesses and posted to the OPG.
The OPG said it is now developing the online system and additional safeguards, and that extensive testing will be needed to ensure the process works as intended and is secure. It will provide more information in the coming months.
Modernisation and safeguards
Justice Minister Mike Freer said: “Millions of people rely on a lasting power of attorney to make sure their care and finances are taken care of should they lose mental capacity.
“This act allows us to modernise the service, introduce new safeguards from fraud and abuse and make it simpler to give people peace of mind their interests will be protected.”
Public Guardian for England and Wales Amy Holmes said: “This is a significant milestone in our plans to modernise lasting powers of attorney and we are one step closer to a quicker, more secure and straightforward service.
“Our focus now is on continuing to develop, test and refine a new online platform and improved paper process to ensure we provide a service that will include additional safeguards and suit the needs of all our customers.”
Big increase
The number of registered lasting power of attorneys has increased sharply in recent years to more than six million and every year the OPG handles more than 19 million pieces of paper.
It said the digitalisation will speed up registration time by picking up errors earlier and allowing them to be fixed online rather than having to wait for documents to be posted back and forth.
An improved paper process will also be introduced for those unable to use the internet.
The reforms build on the launch of the Use an LPA service in 2020, which has allowed organisations such as banks to digitally and securely check the registration of an LPA instantaneously. This sped up a process that previously took weeks to conclude while paper copies were shared.
